Elephant in the room: student loans reach $1.5 TRILLION

Whenever I bring up student loans with a co-worker or friends they get a sad look on their face, like they’re f***ed. Most will be f***ed their whole life because they can’t manage debt properly and that 10-year student loan will turn out to be a 30-year mortgage. Unfortunately, there are 44 million people with student loans (30-year mortgages) that total a whopping $1.5 trillion according to this Forbes report.

Student loan debt in 2019 is the highest ever.

The latest student loan debt statistics for 2019 show how serious the student loan debt crisis has become for borrowers across all demographics and age groups. There are more than 44 million borrowers who collectively owe $1.5 trillion in student loan debt in the U.S. alone. Student loan debt is now the second highest consumer debt category – behind only mortgage debt – and higher than both credit cards and auto loans. Borrowers in the Class of 2017, on average, owe $28,650, according to the Institute for College Access and Success.

States With The Most Student Loan Debt

Not surprisingly, states with larger populations have higher aggregate student loan debt. California, Florida, Texas and New York are among the four highest states for total student loan debt outstanding among resident borrowers.

California, Florida, Texas and New York represent more than 20% of all U.S. student loan borrowers who collectively owe more than $340 billion of student loan debt.

Other Important Student Loan Debt Statistics

In addition, there are several other startling statistics regarding the state of student loan debt:

Nearly seven in 10 seniors (68%) who graduated from public and non-profit colleges in 2015 had student loan debt.

Public Colleges: Borrowers who graduated from public colleges represent 66% of all student loan borrowers and have, on average, $25,550 of student loan debt. This is 25% than in 2008.

Private Non-Profit Colleges: Borrowers who graduated from public colleges represent 75% of all student loan borrowers and have, on average, $32,300 of student loan debt. This was 15% higher than in 2008.

For-Profit Colleges: Borrowers who graduated from public colleges represent 75% of all student loan borrowers and have, on average, $39,950 of student loan debt. This was 26% higher than in 2008.

Almost half (47%) of private loan borrowers borrowed less than they could have in federal Stafford loans for college.

While private loan volume peaked at $18.1 billion in 2007-2008, private loan volume is now $7.8 billion as of 2014-2015.

6% of all undergraduates – 1,373,000 students – borrowed private loans in 2011-12.

Four out of five 2016 graduates with state loan debt attended schools in just four states: Texas, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and New Jersey that awarded only 14% of bachelor’s degrees.

Of the 100 colleges where graduates borrow most in private loans, 85 are nonprofit four-year colleges and 34 are located in Pennsylvania.

About 20% of the Class of 2012’s student loans were private student loans.

Graduates who receive Pell Grants are more likely to borrow more debt: 88% had student loans in 2012, with an average student loan balance of $31,200 per borrower.

Graduates who did not receive Pell Grants: 53% of those who never received a Pell Grant had debt, with an average student loan balance of $26,450 per borrower — $4,750 less than the average debt for Pell recipients with debt.